


The Lights Above and the Lights Below

by radiofreekerberos



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Relationship, Protective Shiro (Voltron), SHEITH - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 01:53:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14125551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/radiofreekerberos/pseuds/radiofreekerberos
Summary: “Yeah, I didn’t think you’d ever seen one,” Shiro says softly, his eyes shining. “The ones west of Kansas don’t actually glow.”Keith gives him a side-eyed glance. “Isthiswhy we had to fly half-way across the country to look at the stars. Fireflies?”“Totally worth it, to see the look on your face,” Shiro says, a soft smile tugging at his lips.or, the one where Shiro has more than one surprise for Keith, before leaving for Kerberos





	The Lights Above and the Lights Below

**Author's Note:**

> For the tumblr prompt: Imagine: pre-Kerberos Shiro and Kieth catching fireflies together ❤️

The sun has disappeared beneath the tree-line as Keith and Shiro leisurely hike up the gravel trail towards the rocky mountain summit. Keith adjusts the pack on his back with one hand, since his other is tangled up in Shiro’s long fingers. It’s been a while since they’ve gone camping together, two years to be exact, since Keith first joined the Garrison, It’s the first time they’ve been this far east as well. The New Hampshire air is cooler than Keith is used to, but also heavier. It’s wreaking a bit of havoc on his endurance. He hasn't quite discovered the right pace to maintain his breath in the close air.

“Well, there it is,” Shiro says, a little breathlessly, indicating that he too is having some trouble adapting to the clammy northeastern climate. “What d’ya you think?”

Keith dubiously eyes the odd angles of the gray box-like structure perched on a slab of granite just ahead of them. “ _That’s_ an observatory?”

“Yeah,” Shiro chuckles. “It was made to resemble the local terrain.”

“It looks like a ten-year-old kid built it out of Legos,” Keith mutters sullenly.

Shiro laughs. “Well, I’m sure the architects would appreciate your feedback,” he says dryly. “You can write a letter to them when we get back to the Garrison.” He grips Keith’s hand a little tighter, a wide grin blooming across his face. “Come on,” he urges excitedly.

Keith fondly rolls his eyes, a wan smile tugging at his lips as he allows Shiro to drag him the rest of the way up the trail. He still can’t believe that _this_ is how Shiro wanted to spend his precious leave, gazing at the stars through a telescope when he’s about to blast off for Kerberos and see them for himself. 

“We could have stayed closer to home you know,” Keith grumbles.

“And risk getting called back early?” Shiro asks, “Not on your life. I’ve got three full days before I have to report back and I plan to spend every moment of them with you.”

“Camping in doctor Seuss’s house on top of a deserted mountain,” Keith mutters. “What could possibly go wrong?” He’s startled by a sudden rustling near the sparse tree-line. “Is that… Are there wolves out here?” He asks, pulling his knife.

“Relax Texas,” Shiro says calmly, lowering the blade in Keith’s hand. “You’re gonna have fun, I promise,” he says dragging Keith the rest of the way into the geometric nightmare of a building.

Inside it’s actually kind of nice, cozy, like a country cottage with floors and walls made of caramel colored wood. It _is_ dark though, and getting rapidly darker now that the sun’s gone down. Shiro leads Keith down a short corridor that opens into a spacious room that is considerably warmer than the rest of the building despite a noticeable lack of electricity. 

“There’s supposed to be a…” Shiro mutters, fumbling around in the dark for a moment. “Aha!” He opens a narrow utility-sized door and flips a switch. Several rows of amber lights flicker on throughout the building, brought to life with the soft hum of a generator. 

“Where do we sleep?” Keith asks, looking around. The angles are weird, but this place is definitely nicer than the desert shack where he grew up before his dad went missing.

“This way,” Shiro says, tugging him over to the spiral staircase that leads up to the observatory’s viewing platform. They don’t take it all the way up though, Shiro stops one landing beneath the platform and opens the door that leads out to the observation deck instead.

Outside, the world has turned to pale twilight. Keith takes in the tranquil surroundings, leaning over the guardrail surrounding the deck to watch the thick clouds of mist crawling over the White Mountains in the distance. 

“Nice huh,” Shiro says thoughtfully, watching him and Keith nods absently. “I thought we’d sleep out under the stars tonight, if that’s okay with you.”

There’s no reason not to. It’s the middle of summer and a clear night. The air’s a little rawer than Keith is used to, but he’s warm enough in his micro fleece pullover. 

“Fine,” he says with a shrug, slipping out of his pack and propping it up against the guardrail wall.

Shiro smiles and follows suit, dropping his own pack a few feet away. “You hungry?” He asks.

Keith doesn't look up from the down-filled sleeping bag he’s carefully unrolling onto the wooden deck. “I guess I could eat,” he says absently. His stomach’s still on Mountain time, but whatever.

Shiro retrieves a kit bag from inside his pack as Keith curiously looks on. Shiro was in charge of bringing the food, which in hindsight was probably a bad idea since he’s also the world’s worst cook. Keith braces himself. “What’cha got?” he asks somewhat sheepishly. 

“MREs and hydration packs,” Shiro says, holding up two plastic pouches. “What else?”

Oh boy, Space Corps food; Shiro must’ve cleaned out the Mess hall judging by the spilling contents of the overstuffed kit. It was probably easy, since the sergeant in charge of supplies has a crush on him, along with half the cadets in Keith’s class.

“Boy, you really know how to show a guy a good time,” Keith says flatly.

“Keith, I love you,” Shiro says, “but I cook for no man.”

“Probably a good thing, since you’d just end up burning the building down,” Keith says wryly.

Shiro pulls a face. “Hey, I deeply resent that, even if it is true.”

Keith chuckles and Shiro breaks into a big goofy grin. He likes it when he can get Keith to laugh. “Okay,” he says rummaging around inside the kit for a moment. “Vegetarian Pasta for you and Lemon Pepper Tuna for me,” he says handing both pouches over to Keith, because really, Shiro would just ruin them if he tried to heat them up. He’s got powers.

“What’re you gonna do when you’re on Kerberos?” Keith asks as he prepares the self-heating pouches with water from the hydration packs.

“Make Matt do it,” Shiro shrugs.

Keith just smiles and shakes his head as he seals the pouches and starts waiting for their meals to heat through. He honestly doesn't know how Shiro managed to keep himself from starving to death before they met. 

He catches a fleeting glimpse of golden light out of the corner of his eye and turns his head, squinting into the shadowy dusk when he can’t find its source. There’s a second glimmer of light a few feet from the first, then another just over his head. Fireflies; Keith smiles and watches enraptured as more and more tiny flashing lights join the first, weaving a winking tapestry of golden light around them. 

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d ever seen one,” Shiro says softly, his eyes shining. “The ones west of Kansas don’t actually glow.”

Keith gives him a side-eyed glance. “Is _this_ why we had to fly half-way across the country to look at the stars. Fireflies?”

“Totally worth it, to see the look on your face,” Shiro says, a soft smile tugging at his lips. 

Keith doesn't know what to say. It’s the thoughtful gestures that throw him. He’s still not used to anyone going out of their way for him. Shiro’s always been so generous with his affections it’s hard for Keith not to feel guilty about his own stunted efforts. He hasn't even been able to tell Shiro he loves him yet, not because he doesn’t. Shiro means the world to him, but it’s a big step for Keith to say the words when everyone he’s ever loved has left him. He knows Shiro understands, but that doesn’t make him feel any less inadequate. 

Shiro watches Keith as he carefully plucks the nearest firefly out of the air. Honestly it’s not difficult, fireflies move pretty slowly apparently. He opens his hand to find a longish brown beetle crawling along his palm. It glimmers and takes to the air again with a tiny whirr of its wings. Keith watches it hanging in the air, its long tail lighting up like a lantern as it slowly flits away.

He just sits there for a moment, transfixed by the unexpected light show, and all the while he can feel Shiro’s eyes upon him. He refuses to look up, self consciously unsealing his food pouch and slowly stirring the now heated contents with a plastic spork. 

“What?” He finally asks, sighing in exasperation. 

“I’m just… really gonna miss you,” Shiro says softly.

Keith swallows. He doesn’t trust himself to look at Shiro without getting all emotional. “I’m really gonna miss you too,” he says, awkwardly staring into his pouch of tricolored pasta. 

“I’m only gonna be gone a year,” Shiro says, like he’s said a thousand times before. “I’ll be back before you know it.” 

“I know,” Keith mutters glumly.

“And anyway, you’ll be at the launch and we’ll vid-chat everyday.”

“How’re we supposed to do that?” Keith scoffs, pulling a face. “It’s against regulations to talk to anyone who isn’t family. You know that.”

“Yes,” Shiro agrees, “which is why I listed you as family.”

Keith snorts and stabs a piece of pasta with his spork. “As what, your brother?” he sarcastically asks before shoving it into his mouth.

“As my fiancé, actually,” Shiro says quietly.

Keith nearly chokes on his pasta. He finally looks up, eyes going wide when he realizes Shiro’s holding a small black velvet box. 

“What…” he swallows, his mouth going dry. “What the hell is that?”

Shiro smiles and opens the box. There’s a silver wedding band inside. “It’s titanium,” he says. “I thought it would be fitting, since you kind of are too.”

Keith freezes. He just sits there like a statue, unable to tear his eyes away as Shiro removes the ring from its box. “You don’t have to answer right away,” Shiro says softly, gently, as if Keith were a wild horse that he’s afraid might run if spooked. “You’ve got a whole year to think about it.”

He removes a plain silver chain from his jacket pocket. Keith licks his lips, his eyes nervously wavering between it and Shiro’s face. “And if you need more time, that’s okay too,” Shiro says, threading the chain through the ring. “I just want you to know that _whatever_ you decide will be okay with me,” he says and slowly leans forward. Keith doesn't move a muscle as Shiro carefully clasps the chain around his neck. “Things can stay just the way they are, if that’s what you want. I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give.”

Shiro leans in and kisses him on the forehead and Keith swallows and tentatively fingers the solid ring hanging around his neck. There’s an inscription engraved on the inside; _You have my heart_ , it says. “Are you sure about this?” he whispers haltingly. “You don’t want someone more…” _open… expressive… trusting…_ “better,” he says lamely, shaking his head.

“There’s no one better,” Shiro says firmly, taking Keith’s face in his warm hands. “I don’t want anyone but you. I _love_ you,” and Keith closes his eyes as Shiro’s lips brush his.

“It’ll be a yes,” Keith says, when their lips part, “Just so you know, it’ll be a yes,” he swallows, “because I love you too.”

Shiro smiles and caresses his face. “One year,” he says softly, and Keith nods, covering Shiro’s hands in his. He doesn't even mind the bitter-sweet tears pricking his eyes. “I’ll be back before you know it and we can start making plans.”

One corner of Keith’s mouth quirks into a fleeting half-smile. There are lights all around them now, the fireflies winking like tiny beacons below and the stars beginning to fill the velvet sky above. Keith does his best to commit every detail of his final hours with Shiro to memory and Shiro smiles at him, his gray eyes shining in the twinkling light. For once Keith allows himself to feel hopeful about the future. After all, what’s a year apart when they’ll get to spend a lifetime together.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on the [tumblr](https://radiofreekerberos.tumblr.com/)


End file.
